Have you ever turned on the water to fill your bath tub and wondered about the history of your tap?
The tap has an interesting history that traces back to ancient times. As early as 1700 B.C., plumbing and taps were being used to control the water to fountains and private homes.
Taps started out with two handles for hot and cold water. If you were running a bath, you turned on the hot water tap and the cold-water tap. However, in 1937, Al Moen burned his hands in the hot water and decided to design a single-handled tap. His first design was rejected and between 1940 and 1945, he finally succeeded in designing a functioning, single-handled tap. Finally, people would be able to adjust the temperature of one stream of water until they found their desired temperature.
Many others continued to improve upon the design of the tap. In 1945, Landis Perry came up with the design for a ball valve for taps. The Delta single-handle tap was the first tap to utilise the ball valve.
As time marched on, more and more improvements were made to taps. Some of these improvements include filters to reduce contaminants, spray hoses that can be pulled out from the sink, electronic taps, and taps designed for the handicapped. Electronic taps are becoming the norm in public bathrooms because users do not have to touch the handles to turn the water on. They simply hold their hands in front of a sensor and the water turns on, making these taps more hygienic than traditional taps.
It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the world of taps!
Students at the Plumbing College will have the opportunity to study the workings of taps in detail during their plumbing course, an important element of the practical workshop focuses on the maintenance of taps and valves. This knowledge will prove critical to students once they are in the plumbing industry.
For more information on one of our plumbing courses please contact our Student Support Team on 0800 032 2452 or email us at info@plumbingcourse.org.uk.
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